by Kim Huston

author of SMALL TOWN SEXY

www.smalltownsexybook.com

Have you ever found yourself waking up in the morning, just seconds before the reality of the new day sets in, and just wished during the night, a time machine had taken you back to being twelve-years-old again? I do—and quite often. At that age, the most important decisions I had to make in a day were where I would ride my bike and what I would make for lunch.

Except for the birth of my daughters, my childhood days in my small town of Bloomfield are probably the most memorable experiences of my life. Those days were so simple, so innocent, a time where no one talked about “being stressed” and the word “multi-task” was not in our vocabulary.

Cell phones would not have been necessary as my mom always knew where I was, and never worried about me heading off on my bike as I set out on a new adventure on the country back roads. I so often long for these vivid images to come to life again, and I am once again at home, hanging out on the corner with my friends, just deciding which direction to take and what we are going to do. Nostalgia is a very powerful feeling.

I have not found one universal term for the way people think about their small towns; I have found however, by just talking to people about their childhood and their small hometowns, there is, without a doubt, a smile that comes across their face with every memory. What I have learned is that Small Town Sexy means different things to different people depending on the kind of life they have led and the experiences they have had.

Small Town Sexy is:

• Realizing you are a small town addict, and not wanting an intervention.
• Knowing that despite your size, you can still conduct big business.
• Celebrating your heritage for all to see.
• Knowing that the size of your town has no merit to its success.
• About people coming back, and others discovering small towns for the first time.
• Getting involved in the decision-making process.
• Enjoying the thrills of your big city neighbors.
• Embracing the unique individuals who make up community and accepting the fact that not everyone is into small town life.

I find myself back to that one essential question, what is Small Town Sexy? It now has become quite clear:

First, Small Town Sexy is a feeling. It is that feeling that comes over you when you close your eyes and think about your life there. It’s a nurturing calm that for an instant takes you back to a “good place.” A place where the air was clean, the sky was blue and was never measured by size but by the quality of life you led.

Second, Small Town Sexy is people. Though we are scattered from coast to coast, there is a connection, a kindred spirit if you will, that makes us all part of this wonderful small town society.

Who are the people that make small towns sexy?

• We are mothers, fathers, teachers, students, doctors, volunteers, and entrepreneurs.
• We are rich snobs and we are rednecks.
• We have GEDs and MBAs, we are retired and on unemployment.
• We live downtown, on farms, in mobile homes, and sometimes at the end of dirt roads.
• We drive cars, trucks, hybrids and four-wheelers and we have been known to drive a tractor to our senior prom.
• We have old money, new money and some of us have no money at all.
• We are all the people of Small Town Sexy.

Small towns are some of the most inviting places you will ever go. They are places where people still ride bikes, and not because it’s the “green” thing to do, but because it allows you to see things that can’t be seen from the windows of cars.

Small towns are where the smell of freshly mowed grass lingers for what seems like blocks, and where people know your name in the local hardware stores, and all you have to do to pay is say “charge it.”

In small towns you will find old signs still painted on the sides of barns, stores that close at five o’clock and a church on every corner.

A small town is like a favorite song playing on the radio. You just can’t get it off your mind no matter how hard you try. They are not ritzy or glitzy, but are simple and genuine just like the people who live there. They are small in size, but enormous in spirit and are always alive and full of personality.

Can you live a happy, SEXY life in a small town? You can live a happy, sexy life in any town. I don’t think the size of the community you live in is going to determine whether you are happy or not. There are too many other factors that will do that for you. Are you in a happy relationship? Are you financially stable? Are you healthy? Those things get you up in the morning and help you sleep at night, not particularly the town you are waking up in. But, loving where you live and the environment that surrounds you every day, has everything to do with your peace of mind.

Let’s face it; chances are many of you will never move to a small town. That’s absolutely no problem—we understand and we love you anyway. If you don’t plan to live in small town America, let me encourage you to do the next best thing. Step away from the computer, turn off your TV, get out of your office and get away. Get away to the amazing “Byways of America” and experience the wonderful world of small towns. Life happens fast. Don’t let it pass you by.

Do I ever wonder, what if? What if I got a “do-over” and had the chance to change my decision about coming home to small town America after college? I wouldn’t be honest if I said it doesn’t cross my mind on occasion, but I have never regretted that decision, not once. Especially, when I look out my “window to the world” and see this truly unbelievable slice of heaven looking back at me. My days in small town America would not be complete without scenes I see each day out of my window, including the shopkeepers preparing for another day of business, the stay-at-home moms talking as fast as they’re walking, and those wonderful men, hurrying into the local diner for a morning of local news with their coffee.

I know that my life at age twelve is gone and my memories are all that I have of those good times. Because today, in reality, the buildings seem smaller, the Tobacco Festival is gone, and there is a whole new set of girls standing on that infamous corner watching the cars go by just waiting for the moment when they are old enough to leave. And if they are lucky, and the passion in them is as strong as mine, they, too, will find their way back to small town America just as I did.

I am not sure I have lived my best life yet, because I have a lot of life worth living, but what I am sure about, is that the life I look forward to living will be in small town America. And that, my friend, is Small Town Sexy.